Chapter Twenty-Three

A foot nudged me awake. "Get up, slave!"

I groaned and stretched out the kinks I'd gotten from sleeping on the floor. Wait. Why was I on the floor? Vax had carried me to bed, hadn't he? My brain was fuzzy at first, but then it cleared, and I was certain. He had definitely carried me to bed in the middle of the night and touched every inch of me. Well, nearly every inch. He hadn't touched my sex, but that made it even better. Didn't it? I looked up at Vax. He was standing over me, still nude, his arms crossed, wearing a cold, almost cruel expression. I hurried to my feet.

Maybe his secret touch session hadn't included sexy stuff because he needed to keep it a secret from me. Because he wasn't ready to be nice to me. All right. Fair enough. But it wasn't a secret. I knew what he had done. I would treasure that memory forever and it would give me the strength to get through whatever torment he had planned. Yep. I'd face them with a smile. Starting now.

"Good morning, Vax," I said and grinned. "I had the strangest dream that you picked me up and carried me to bed in the middle of the night."

"What did you call me?" the King snarled.

"I mean, Your Majesty."

He narrowed his eyes at me.

Oh, he was feeling particularly vulnerable today. Vax may think I was unaware of what he'd done, but that didn't matter. He still knew what he'd done, and that was enough to annoy him. My teasing him about carrying me to bed—and then putting me back on the floor—didn't help. His annoyance would find its release soon. On me.

So be it.

I tried again, using the hated word that I knew he wanted to hear. The only word that would assuage his anger at himself and me. "Good morning, master."

Vax grunted and turned toward the door. "Come!"

I followed him downstairs to the landing below. The one with the two doors side by side. Vax opened the one on the right and went into the bathroom. Over the tidal pool marble we went, passing a shower large enough for ten and a length of pale blue counter with two white sinks. We stopped before an enormous bathtub set into the curve of the wall. A window curved with the wall, presenting a lovely view of the city and a horrid view of the blackened garden.

Vax plopped into a white coral chair beside the tub and waved at it. "Run me a bath and make sure the water is the perfect temperature."

I didn't dare ask him what temperature that was. I just hurried to the golden faucets and turned them on. "Would you like me to add anything to the water, Your Majesty?"

"No," he said and got up.

He let the title slide, and I breathed a sigh of relief. If I had to keep calling him master, it was going to sour things for me.

I watched Vax head to a door at the back of the room. He opened it and revealed a small room with a toilet. As he shut himself inside, I realized that I needed that room too. Especially with the water running. By the time Vax emerged, I was pressing my legs together around the metal of the cage.

"May I use the toilet, Your Majesty?" I asked.

"Yes. Go ahead." He waved toward the door.

"Uh. Could you, uh, release me?" I waved at my cock.

"The cage is formed so that you may urinate through it."

I stared down at it, then at him. "Please, Your Majesty. It hurts."

"No! Now go relieve yourself before I change my mind and make you hold your water."

Grimacing, I went to the toilet room. He was right. I was able to pee through the cage. It didn't even get on the metal. But I was still annoyed that he kept it on me. How long would he make me wear the damn thing?

I trudged out, more comfortable than before but dreading the discomfort to come. Because while I'd been busy, the Sea King had submerged himself in the tub. With his head leaning back on the rim, his shimmering hair spread over the marble encapsulating the bathtub and onto the floor. His chest was wet, nipples like glossy candies begging to be sucked, and with the water free of soap, I could see past the surface to his tight belly and flaccid cock. His lean, long legs stretched out across the bottom of the deep blue marble basin, his skin seeming to glow against the darkness.

Movement caught my eye—the twitch of his cock. My stare shot back to it, eyes widening as the length grew and thickened. Had I ever been so fascinated with the hardening of a cock before? I couldn't remember. I only knew that I was obsessed with this one. Even that basic response seemed to be divine.

The water kept rushing into the tub, going higher and higher. It reached Vaxarion's nipples before he asked, "Are you going to just stand there and gawk at me or turn off the faucets?"

"Sorry, Your Majesty!" I hurried to the faucets and turned them off. "Do you want me to bathe you?"

"Later. First, get in here and give me my morning orgasm."

"Your what?"

"I want you to suck my dick, slave," Vax growled. "Do it. Now!"

"Oh! Yes, Your Majesty!" I practically dove into the tub, groaning when the heat of the water sank into my tight muscles.

The basin was so deep and wide that it was more like a pool than a bathtub. Which made it perfect for me to give an underwater blow job. As I sank below the surface, I grinned to myself. This was why Vax didn't want me to add anything to the water and why he didn't want me to bathe him yet. With the water pure, I could breathe it. I could stay submerged until he came.

The water closed over me and my gills opened, drawing it in. It comforted me even though it was almost too warm to breathe. I sighed, drawing it deeper, and settled between Vaxarion's legs. There, underwater, with him, I was home. The thought eased me even more, and I happily nuzzled his shaft.

With my body floating out behind me, framed by his, I anchored myself with a hand on his hip and wrapped the other around the base of his cock. The separation of air and water gave me the confidence I needed to thoroughly enjoy him. I took my time kissing his shaft, then licking it before I finally sucked the length into my mouth. Up and down I went, fighting the weightlessness of the water as the hollow sounds of Vaxarion's groans filtered down to me. I loved the way even the curls around his cock shimmered with jewel tones. And how he filled my mouth. And how he tasted. And how his sacs tightened. I was in sheer ecstasy except for one thing—that fucking cage!

But I kept going, kept working Vax until he locked up against me—hips arched up and both hands on my head to hold me to him. With a deep, primal grunt, he filled my mouth, and I eagerly swallowed. Only then did the King release me. I spread my hands on his belly and stayed there a moment, pressing my cheek against his thigh. I craved his affection. Especially after the way he'd touched me the night before. But Vax wasn't ready. He grabbed me by the ring on my collar and pulled me up.

I got to my knees between his legs and wiped the water from my face. "Would you like me to bathe you now, Your Majesty?"

"Yes." He waved at a line of bottles set on the tub's ledge.

The crystal decanters held liquid soap that could be used for the body and hair, then there was a jar with thicker cream to add silkiness to the hair after the cleansing. I opened the decanters and smelled them, finally selecting the one that smelled like orange blossoms.

"Is this one all right?"

He nodded.

After snatching a cloth from the pile beside the decanters, I wet it and poured soap over it. Straddling the Sea King, I rubbed the soapy cloth over his chest, taking it in slow circles from one side to the other before heading down to his stomach. Vax leaned back, propping his arms on the marble ledge around the tub, and stared at me. I lowered my gaze and focused on the job.

But as time passed, and I moved from one hard group of muscles to another, it became increasingly difficult to focus on the act of bathing instead of what I was bathing. Vaxarion's smooth skin. The curve of his biceps. The corded muscles of his thighs. I lifted his left leg, propped it on my shoulder, and washed the long length, then repeated the process to his right leg. After laying them back in the water and rubbing them free of soap, I finally moved inward and went for the treasure.

Vax continued to watch me, his expression unreadable.

"Could you turn around, please?" I asked.

Vax rolled over and folded his arms on the rim. His hair trailed into the water, so I gathered it up and set it on the ledge, out of the way. Then I washed his shoulders. His waist. Oh, fuck, his ass. I couldn't help slipping a finger between his firm cheeks and prodding his tight hole.

Vax sighed.

That got my attention.

I pushed harder. My finger breached the ring. He was hot and soft inside, but that outer ring squeezed me. I slid deeper, then pumped.

"I don't like the thrusting," Vax said. "Massage me there instead."

"Yes, Your Majesty," I said breathlessly.

I hooked my finger and rubbed at him in widening circles.

"No. Not good enough." Vax got to his feet, water sluicing from his body and raining down on me. He set one foot on the rim of the tub and looked at me over his shoulder. "Tongue me, slave."

"It will be my fucking honor," I groaned and pushed my face between his cheeks.

I gloried in the sensation of being smothered by the King's flesh for a moment before I spread his cheeks and bared his tight, pink hole. My cock pressed painfully into the cage, but I didn't care. I kissed his hole, then licked it.

"Do better than that," he growled.

"Yes, Your Majesty," I moaned, but it was muffled.

Flicking my tongue over Vax was fun, but I needed more. So I speared him with it and groaned as he closed around me. I was tongue-fucking the Sea King! Oh, the delight. The shivers that ran down my spine. The pride that he allowed me to do this to him. It was glorious. I groaned in pain and pleasure, the pressure on my aching cock becoming sweet. This was why men raved about getting scratched during sex. This confusion of the senses. I was past the point where I could separate the pain from the bliss of slipping my tongue into him. I groaned and massaged the globes of flesh I held as I thrust as deep as I could.

"Enough," Vax said without inflection.

I blinked and backed away, confused by the detached sound of his voice. Had he truly not enjoyed that? "Did I do something wrong, Your Majesty?"

"No," Vax said. "But it's time for your punishment. Get out of the water and kneel on this step." He pointed at the top step beside the tub.

I got up, shivering when the heat of the water left me, and knelt on the step. It wasn't comfortable. As I got in place, Vax lowered his leg and widened his stance so that he stood before me. I licked my lips, assuming he would fuck my face and hoping he'd be savage about it.

He did not.

Instead, Vax took his cock in hand and stroked it. He stared at me as he did, his gaze sliding over my face, my chest, and then my caged cock. He remained there, watching my sex struggle against the restraints as he quickened his pace. I whimpered, wanting him so fucking badly.

"Please," I whispered.

"No," he said.

I made a wordless cry and gripped the tub rim. Vax worked faster. His muscles rippled. He was close.

"Oh, fuck. Please, Your Majesty. Release me."

"Never!" Vaxarion roared and came. He angled his cock so that the cum streaked my face.

I closed my eyes and moaned, opening my mouth to catch a few drops. When the hot lashes stopped, I opened my eyes and found him glaring at me. With a rough hand, he rubbed the cum into my face, then shoved his thumb in my mouth. I sucked at it, cleaning it, and held his stare.

"Lower your eyes, slave!"

I looked down at his flaccid dick.

"You are supposed to be appeasing me, Zixin. And yet you keep pushing me. If you want my forgiveness, you had better start acting like it."

I bowed my head. "You're right. I'm sorry. I'll try to do better."

Vax grunted and returned to sprawling in the water. "You may wash my hair now."